Did South Korea's memory chip export prices rise for two consecutive months, and global semiconductor demand peaked?

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the increase in South Korea's memory chip export prices slowed last month, which may indicate that demand in the global semiconductor industry is peaking, and in particular, demand growth driven by artificial intelligence technology may be slowing down. According to data released by the Bank of Korea, the price increase for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) slowed for the second month in a row, while Nand flash memory prices also began to rise weakly after reaching a stable level in August.

Figure 1

According to data from the South Korean government, the growth rate of exports of technology products has slowed for the second month in a row, which indicates that global demand may have peaked, and that shipments and prices of memory chips are also losing momentum. According to data released by Korea's Ministry of Trade, South Korea's technology exports increased 24% year-on-year in September, down from 28.5% in August, while DRAM shipments increased 57.1%, the slowest growth rate since December last year.

Figure 2

According to Dramexchange data, the prices of DRAM and NAND flash memory both dropped last month. Although global demand for memory chips is driving the growth of the Korean economy, South Korea's technology exports account for about one-third of total exports, and signs of slowing growth suggest that although the economy may not lose momentum quickly, economists and policy makers expect that growth may gradually slow down. This expectation helped the Bank of Korea keep the benchmark interest rate high until recently falling to 3.25%.

According to information, South Korea is the world's largest exporter of memory chips, and these chips are key components of computer processors that support artificial intelligence. The Korean economy has been growing in sync with the performance of its memory chip makers. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are the main sources of profit for South Korea, which relies heavily on technology exports, including the supply of components for smartphones, computer screens, rechargeable batteries, and other cutting-edge consumer goods. Although the growth of memory chip exports has slowed, the growth momentum of the Korean economy is expected to continue until next year.